GREENVILLE, SC—SAGE Automotive Interiors will invest $5 million to update and expande its assembly plant here.

WOOSTER, OH—Gardeners may look at dandelions as weeds, but the auto industry may soon see them as a gold mine. Tire makers and auto parts suppliers are investigating whether dandelions and other plants can be used as alternatives to rubber trees for producing natural latex.

MILLS RIVER, NC—GF Automotive and Linamar Corp. will invest $217 million to build a new assembly plant here for lightweight powertrain components. The facility is expected to create 350 jobs during the next five years.

Carbon-fiber composites offer a variety of advantages for car and truck manufacturers, including lighter weight, better corrosion resistance and higher impact strength than aluminum and steel.

Sonotrode design is critical to a successful ultrasonic plastic welding application.

The Tier One supplier’s plant in Toledo, OH, thrives on continuous improvement and sequencing.

CLEVELAND—Ford plans to invest $145 million to upgrade its engine assembly plant here so it can build the next-generation, 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine and expand the lineup of cars and trucks that are offered with the popular engine.

WASHINGTON—Orders for big-ticket goods surged in January. The Commerce Department said Thursday that new orders of durable goods increased 4.9 percent last month, topping the median estimate of 2.9 percent that economists had been expecting.

SINDELFINGEN, Germany—With customization key to wooing modern consumers, flexible and adaptable human workers are reclaiming space from robots at the Mercedes assembly plant here.

SPRING HILL, TN—GM will invest $148 million in its engine assembly plant here. The investment is aimed at modifying machinery and assembly equipment to produce V8 engines.